October 27, 2010

Illinois Democrats botch absentee early voting push

Already facing tough campaigns up and down Tuesday’s ballot, Democrats botched an early voting effort in the Chicago area.

Illinois Democratic Party workers started mailing applications for absentee ballots to registered voters late last week, leaving precious few days for them to be mailed back to election authorities in time to get a ballot. And many of the applications contained the wrong birthdates for the registered voters they were mailed to, leaving some of those who got them wondering if it was a scam.

The Illinois Democratic Coordinated Campaign will not say how many of the early voting invitations went out, but the number appears to be in the tens of thousands at a minimum.

Instead of mailing the early voting forms directly to the election authorities, the Democrats had voters send them back to the party itself. The Democrats then forwarded the applications to election officials, adding days to the process.

The problem has election officials scrambling to process hundreds of down-to-the-wire absentee ballot applications. They also are worried voters who respond too late to get a ballot returned will be left wondering whether they can vote on Election Day.

“It is has presented a daunting challenge,” said Jim Allen, spokesman for Chicago’s elections board.

The issue stems from a new law that allows political groups to create and mail absentee ballot applications. This is the first general election in which residents are allowed to vote absentee by mail without giving a reason.

The Democratic organization mailed applications starting late last week in the Chicago area. Some applications were even mailed on Monday, according to election officials.

Election officials can’t accept applications after Thursday. Completed ballots have to be postmarked by Monday to count. The scenario leaves little wiggle room, and Democratic officials concede the timing was poor.

“There could be a lot of fingers pointed at people who messed up on this,” said Terry Link, the Lake County Democratic chairman and a state senator from Waukegan.

Meanwhile, election officials said birthdates are not even required on applications, so voters shouldn’t worry about the wrong ones appearing on the Democratic mailers. But they note it has caused some of those who received the mailing to think it was a political trick meant to suppress voter turnout.

“This is Mass Mailing 101 and some of these folks didn’t come to class,” Allen said.

Allen and Cook County Clerk David Orr said their offices will be able to process applications they receive on Thursday and have the ballots in the mail by Friday morning at the latest.

But Lake County Clerk Willard Helander warned that her staff might not be able to handle the 1,500 applications she expects to get Thursday. Voters who don’t get an absentee ballot, or don’t get one in time, can still vote on Election Day. Early voting ends Thursday and absentee ballots can be filled out in person up to Monday.

Dave Seman, director of the Democrat organization, issued a statement that said voters “who received the late applications will all be contacted” with a phone call about other voting options.

All 50 aldermen on the Chicago City Council had to file paperwork earlier this year detailing their outside income and gifts. The Tribune took that ethics paperwork and posted the information here for you to see. You can search by ward number or alderman's last name.

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